What is your cost of living for housing?

[Archipelago]

MCOL area.

Mortgage PITI is $2650/month.
All other expenses, vacancies, utilities, repairs, & capital expenditures are $800/month.
Rental income is $4000/month which nets $500/month.

Living in a 4-unit apartment building, renting out 3 units, living in 1 unit and having a roommate as well in my unit.

Do you have any regrets about this arrangement? I have considered doing something like that, as it's really the only way I could justify buying something in my area. I always end up deciding renting wins out for me.

Regrets? No way! Getting paid to live somewhere is almost too good to be true. Once I move out, I will rent the 4th unit and net $1200/month. After PMI is gone it'll go up to $1450/month. Once the mortgage is gone way down the road, it'll be clearing $3k/month. All of this was done with a 3.5% down payment with a total of $30k invested. It's absurd.

[JanetJackson]

$665 a month (Mortgage/Taxes/Insurance). 750 Sq Ft brick bungalow. 
Haven't gotten my utility bills yet, but I'm estimating $150/mo including internet (need in order to keep my work-from-home option). 

[Fomerly known as something]

$1460 per month ($926 mortgage about plus yearly $1000 in insurance and $4000 in property taxes, $1000 for HOA).  3 bedroom 2.5 bath house 1/3rd of an acre inner suburb of a medium sized midwest city.  Utilities average out over the year to be $150 for gas/electric $65 for water, $95 for cable/internet. 

[BicycleB]

MCOL area.

Mortgage PITI is $2650/month.
All other expenses, vacancies, utilities, repairs, & capital expenditures are $800/month.
Rental income is $4000/month which nets $500/month.

Living in a 4-unit apartment building, renting out 3 units, living in 1 unit and having a roommate as well in my unit.

Do you have any regrets about this arrangement? I have considered doing something like that, as it's really the only way I could justify buying something in my area. I always end up deciding renting wins out for me.

Regrets? No way! Getting paid to live somewhere is almost too good to be true. Once I move out, I will rent the 4th unit and net $1200/month. After PMI is gone it'll go up to $1450/month. Once the mortgage is gone way down the road, it'll be clearing $3k/month. All of this was done with a 3.5% down payment with a total of $30k invested. It's absurd.

@Archipelago, sounds like a great deal! Are those nets after allowances for repairs and vacancy? Did you have to find a special situation to swing this on 30k down?

[Archipelago]

MCOL area.

Mortgage PITI is $2650/month.
All other expenses, vacancies, utilities, repairs, & capital expenditures are $800/month.
Rental income is $4000/month which nets $500/month.

Living in a 4-unit apartment building, renting out 3 units, living in 1 unit and having a roommate as well in my unit.

Do you have any regrets about this arrangement? I have considered doing something like that, as it's really the only way I could justify buying something in my area. I always end up deciding renting wins out for me.

Regrets? No way! Getting paid to live somewhere is almost too good to be true. Once I move out, I will rent the 4th unit and net $1200/month. After PMI is gone it'll go up to $1450/month. Once the mortgage is gone way down the road, it'll be clearing $3k/month. All of this was done with a 3.5% down payment with a total of $30k invested. It's absurd.

@Archipelago, sounds like a great deal! Are those nets after allowances for repairs and vacancy? Did you have to find a special situation to swing this on 30k down?

Yes, that includes $370/month for repairs and Capital Expenditures, plus 1 unit vacant for 1 month out of the year (which has been the case for the past 2 years).

Not too special of a case, just an FHA mortgage with 3.5% down.

[expatartist]

Housing allowance: US$2000
Rent: US$850
Remaining housing allowance added to my salary as paid in cash. Most of my colleagues' rent exceeds US$2k.

How I keep it cheap: creative living in 150 square feet. But small doesn't have to feel cramped, if light and space work well. It's illegally subdivided from the 450square foot original. Mine is the largest; 3 neighboring flats are 1-2 people in 100sqf.

Buying vs renting at the moment is much more expensive. It makes sense to rent here unless you're going to stay at least 20 years. And even then, for many it's impossible to buy. I will buy a ~350sqf one bedroom (ideally with same size rooftop) on an outlying island once a permanent resident in ~5 years. Buying as a non-PR is an extra 30% stamp taxes in a useless measure to stop housing price rises.

[Linea_Norway]

We live in a big house (240 m2), with only 2 persons.
Housing costs in 2018 were at 5.300 euro for the year. This includes membership fee for 2 private roads and some small maintenance. We have no mortgage on the home, so it's only electricity, water, sewage, garbage, insurance. It also includes internet and TV and even my cell phone.

Of course our biggest cost is the hidden cost of not having that money in the stock market. We plan to downsize at FIRE and put 400K euros from the sales into the stock market (or stocks/bonds).

[Hirondelle]

I live well below my means in a shared student flat. My room is 130 sqft or 12 sq meters and I share the kitchen and bathroom with 2 flatmates. My rent is €290/month and includes all utilities. Historic building in the city center of a MCOL city in the Northern Netherlands.

[mm1970]

This is kind of depressing.

Mortgage, prop taxes, insurance, $3950/month

[Duke03]

My house payment plus taxes and insurance runs about $2000 a month.  Plus side is I only paid $194 last month in interest...….So the majority of that $2000 is going right back in my pocket in the form of equity!!!

[Slow2FIRE]

PITI
$1960 / month on a 15yr fixed rate loan.  $230 goes towards property taxes.
Utilities
$200 is the highest we pay in one month for utilities (electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, trash).  $90 is about the least we end up paying for utilities in one month.

PITI is about 10% of our gross income from primary W-2 jobs.

[jane_escaped]

$1,115/month rent
usually $150-250/utilities (varies, I use A/C in the summer and both gas and electric heat in the winter, so depending on the temps, there's quite a range; probably averages around $200/mo, or a little less)
~$20/month renter's insurance

total = around $1,335 per month ($308/week)

Rent top floor of 3-floor brick bldg (built in 1912) in Boston, Mass, USA.  It's roughly 600 sf (~56 m²).  Unit had the bathroom partially renovated before I moved in.  Kitchen and rest of the unit has not been renovated in a really long time (decades?).  There was a new fridge when I moved in.  I moved here in 2012, so had the benefit of my neighborhood not being gentrified yet, and, knock on wood, my rent hasn't gone up much (it was originally $925/month), though I don't know how long that will actually last.  The new units on my block are quickly selling out at $2,600-2,800/unit.

Boston has the 3rd highest housing costs in the country (after SF and NYC) and my rent is substantially below market value.  I was able to pay off all of my debt, and have been trying to save like crazy while I still have a relatively high income and relatively low rent.

[OurTown]

$1,800 per month mortgage payment, including taxes & insurance.  About $900 of that is principal. 

[TheContinentalOp]

HCOL Philadelphia Suburbs - $977/mo (including all utitlites) for a 1 BR Apt.

[jps]

$953/mo for mortgage & interest, property taxes, and insurance.

3 bd/3 br rancher with a basement on 1/3 acre.

WA State, but not Seattle.

[Padonak]

We're paying $826 for our studio apartment right now. We live in a non-profit housing co-operative completely managed fully by the residents, so in addition to paying rent, we also volunteer as needed for various projects and committees. Prior to this we rented a studio apartment in a house that had been renovated into individual suites (I think there were five units total), and that place was $645 when we left. Before that, I rented a basement suite for $600. We're considering eventually moving to an island, buying a cheap plot of land, and throwing up a cabin or tiny home to live in, and the cost seems to be roughly the equivalent to our current renting setup.

So I would say that for us, what keeps our costs down is 1. Keeping things teeny tiny (400 square feet max), and 2. Doing REALLY nontraditional things.

@Zikoris

Which island if you don't mind me asking?

[Zikoris]

We're paying $826 for our studio apartment right now. We live in a non-profit housing co-operative completely managed fully by the residents, so in addition to paying rent, we also volunteer as needed for various projects and committees. Prior to this we rented a studio apartment in a house that had been renovated into individual suites (I think there were five units total), and that place was $645 when we left. Before that, I rented a basement suite for $600. We're considering eventually moving to an island, buying a cheap plot of land, and throwing up a cabin or tiny home to live in, and the cost seems to be roughly the equivalent to our current renting setup.

So I would say that for us, what keeps our costs down is 1. Keeping things teeny tiny (400 square feet max), and 2. Doing REALLY nontraditional things.

@Zikoris

Which island if you don't mind me asking?

We're not sure yet - our goal for 2019 is to visit a bunch of prospective islands and see if any of them really call out to us. So far we've visited and rejected two, one for being too undeveloped, one for being too expensive (but super nice - if the prices drops, it would be our top choice). We're visiting two of the more remote ones with my dad in April, and another three at least over the summer. They're all Canadian islands within a day-ish travel time from Vancouver.

[PDXTabs]

$1700/mo to rent a three bedroom townhouse with a one car garage.

[Linea_Norway]

We're paying $826 for our studio apartment right now. We live in a non-profit housing co-operative completely managed fully by the residents, so in addition to paying rent, we also volunteer as needed for various projects and committees. Prior to this we rented a studio apartment in a house that had been renovated into individual suites (I think there were five units total), and that place was $645 when we left. Before that, I rented a basement suite for $600. We're considering eventually moving to an island, buying a cheap plot of land, and throwing up a cabin or tiny home to live in, and the cost seems to be roughly the equivalent to our current renting setup.

So I would say that for us, what keeps our costs down is 1. Keeping things teeny tiny (400 square feet max), and 2. Doing REALLY nontraditional things.

@Zikoris

Which island if you don't mind me asking?

We're not sure yet - our goal for 2019 is to visit a bunch of prospective islands and see if any of them really call out to us. So far we've visited and rejected two, one for being too undeveloped, one for being too expensive (but super nice - if the prices drops, it would be our top choice). We're visiting two of the more remote ones with my dad in April, and another three at least over the summer. They're all Canadian islands within a day-ish travel time from Vancouver.

If you gain such a plot and gain access to water/sewage in the vicinity, you can also consider to pop a used caravan on it. Then you have your tiny home that you can start using right away. Then you can always at some point build something bigger or more stable at a later time.
Sewage can also be solved by building an old fashioned dry toilet, like we have at our cabin. I think a used caravan should be quite cheap. A barrack could also be an option, but needs more furniture.

[soccerluvof4]

4 Bedroom 3 Bath House HCOL area but in affordable pocket with in such area

We budget as follows per Month on paid for house:

Utilities- Gas & Electric $300 a month
Water- 100 a month
Maintenance- $500 a month
Property Tax- $175 a Month
Not sure the split exactly at this moment but for both Auto and House Insurance (4 Cars) 500 a month
We end of with a bit of a surplus end of each year.

[Jesse@Papermonger]

$1170 rent for 1br apt in Ft. Collins, CO, ~$120 all utilities

[Dicey]

This is kind of depressing.

Mortgage, prop taxes, insurance, $3950/month

Not necessarily. Depends on where you live and what you earn. I love it when people in flyover states tell others just to buy a cheaper house. Where I live you can't buy a garage for what their entire huge houses cost. And basements for storage? Practically non-existent. On the flip side, the upside appreciation can be great in a HCOLA. My house cost(s) a fortune to buy and operate, but it's gone up in value $500k in six years, which doesn't suck.

[pudding]

This is one area I can't complain ;)

it's zero.      I bought a house 11 years back that has 8 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 and a bit kitchens.

I live on the middle floor in 2 bedroom 1000 square feet, and 3 language students live upstairs, and 3 live in the basement.

The rents I get off them more than pay for the mortgage and other expenses. There's even some left over.

Sounds like a great setup, must have cost a lot though for a house that big!

It did cost a lot, and when I bought it I did it somewhat naively and really didn't know what I was getting into. 

The first 2 years were a gigantic pain  in the neck as I realized the situation I was in.

But then the banks crashed and interest rates dropped and that made it a lot better. But it was still a drag, I'd say out of the 11 years I've owned it, first 2 were 'never again'  next 5 were 'this f'ing house' next 2 were 'holy smokes' as house value went up 300k in a year.  Then last 2 or 3 quite stable and just a homeowner doing OK.

Also rents here in Vancouver have become insanely high which has also worked in my favour.

The the price of real estate here went through the roof and in the current market could sell for around 800 thousand more than I bought it for.  There's also quite a good possibility that the area will be rezoned, if it happens I could be looking at an extra million bucks!

[Zikoris]

We're paying $826 for our studio apartment right now. We live in a non-profit housing co-operative completely managed fully by the residents, so in addition to paying rent, we also volunteer as needed for various projects and committees. Prior to this we rented a studio apartment in a house that had been renovated into individual suites (I think there were five units total), and that place was $645 when we left. Before that, I rented a basement suite for $600. We're considering eventually moving to an island, buying a cheap plot of land, and throwing up a cabin or tiny home to live in, and the cost seems to be roughly the equivalent to our current renting setup.

So I would say that for us, what keeps our costs down is 1. Keeping things teeny tiny (400 square feet max), and 2. Doing REALLY nontraditional things.

@Zikoris

Which island if you don't mind me asking?

We're not sure yet - our goal for 2019 is to visit a bunch of prospective islands and see if any of them really call out to us. So far we've visited and rejected two, one for being too undeveloped, one for being too expensive (but super nice - if the prices drops, it would be our top choice). We're visiting two of the more remote ones with my dad in April, and another three at least over the summer. They're all Canadian islands within a day-ish travel time from Vancouver.

If you gain such a plot and gain access to water/sewage in the vicinity, you can also consider to pop a used caravan on it. Then you have your tiny home that you can start using right away. Then you can always at some point build something bigger or more stable at a later time.
Sewage can also be solved by building an old fashioned dry toilet, like we have at our cabin. I think a used caravan should be quite cheap. A barrack could also be an option, but needs more furniture.

We're thinking of getting some form of pre-fab cabin, like these: https://www.knottypinecabins.ca/12-wide-cabins/ They ship it to you on a pallet and you just need to assemble it. I think that may be a summer project for me and my dad one day - we've been talking a lot about the various options for logistical stuff. Obviously it would depend entirely on the plot of land in question, but I think it would be really cool to set things up with a mini hydroelectric system (or solar/wind), composting toilet, root cellar/cave for food storage, and a nice wood cooking stove like this https://www.woodcookstoves.ca/wood-burning-cooking-stove-canada.html that I can bake bread in. That would be for the most extreme scenario, where we were totally off grid, so if we were part-grid, or even full-grid, various things would be swapped out, like normal plumbing or not generating electricity.

[hadabeardonce]

$390.05 Principal
$492.01 Interest*
$296.85 Escrow
$511.00 HOA
$ 24.00 Utilities
$1712.91 /mo.

650 sqft. 1bd/1ba in CA Bay Area.

*I get 15% of what I pay in mortgage interest back as a tax credit through a county MCC program.

[honeybbq]

Mine is ridiculous.

mortgage: $3500/mo + $1000/mo property tax.

HCOLA. Fairly large house.

[mizzourah2006]

Our PITI is $1251/month

Edited to add some additional details:

Home SQ FT: 2.2k, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath with an office. On .33 acres.

[brandon1827]

3,300 sq ft, 4 BR/3.5 BA home on 20 acres. Our mortgage is $1,500/month. Our home & auto insurance (2 vehicles) is bundled for $215/month. Property taxes for the house and 20 acres works out to be $200/month, but we just make a $2,400 payment every February. Utilities (Gas & Water + Electric) average around $250/month.

[Livingthedream55]

Around $1,000 for everything (real estate taxes, small mortgage, utilities, insurance)

Repairs/maintenance probably another $100 -$200 a month on average

[Villanelle]

Currently looking for a rental in the DC/NoVA area.  Hoping to stay under $3300 for ~1500sqft, 3 beds (or 2 beds and den, semi-finished basement, or other third space), close to a metro stop, and with a very short commute.  It looks possible, but it might be challenging.  That's before utilities. 

[NotJen]

For 2018:
$176/mo (PITI, but no PI because it’s paid off)
or
$343/mo when I include utilities (water, electric, sewer, trash)

LCOL?  2200 sqft home, ~$160k value? Maybe?  Guess I’ll find out when I sell.

[CarolinaGirl]

2800 sq ft home with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths.  Mortgage is $1170 and taxes/ins are $350.  No HOA!  24 years to go on the mortgage.  Home value is currently $415k.

[Monkey stache]

I'm in Ecuador renting a 3 bedroom, 1 bath apartment with a private rooftop terrace for $350 a month. All utilities except internet are no more than $20/mo combined. I work from home so I pay $61 for 50/50 mbps fiber optic internet.

[The 585]

Currently looking for a rental in the DC/NoVA area.  Hoping to stay under $3300 for ~1500sqft, 3 beds (or 2 beds and den, semi-finished basement, or other third space), close to a metro stop, and with a very short commute.  It looks possible, but it might be challenging.  That's before utilities.

At that budget, can absolutely be done!

[FireHiker]

HCOL area, 5 bed 4 bath, 3690 sq ft (no one needs a house this big...it was bought when we were still in lifestyle inflation pre-MMM). Our PITI is $4100, mortgage is 30 year fixed at 3.25%. Rent on a similar property would be $5000-$5500; I am pretty sure our neighbors across the street pay over $5000/mo to rent and theirs is 4 bed 3 bath and smaller than ours overall. Water is about $100/mo. We have paid for solar so we haven't had an electric bill in over 4 years and our gas bill averages about $40/mo. Trash/recycling/yard waste is another $40/mo.

I can't complain too much though. We have a 2 mile commute, excellent schools, and over 50% equity after only putting 20% down six years ago when we bought the house. We'll ultimately downsize and move to a L(er)COL area when we don't need the jobs. We do not live very mustachian-ly, but we still have a savings rate of 30-40%. Knowing we could sell and retire in a true LCOL area anytime is pretty comforting.

[clarkfan1979]

Location: Koloa, HI (single family home)

Our mortgage is $2685/month and (utilities + internet) is around $350/month, so a grand total of $3,035/month.

We have a finished basement with a separate entrance that gets $1600/month as a mother in law suite. It's a one-bedroom and around 650 sq. ft.

We are left paying $1435/month. However, $700/month goes toward principle.

We were previously renting a 2-bedroom/1 bath apartment for $1500/month (utilities included). However, it was 15 minutes farther from work and activities.

Electricity: $200
Propane: $50
Water: $43
Internet: $57


Mortgage: $2,444
Taxes: $120
Insurance: $121

[BicycleB]

@clarkfan1979, you're in Hawaii for a net cost of $700/mo plus cost of capital? Depending on capital invested, that sounds pretty amazing!

[Padonak]

I'm in Ecuador renting a 3 bedroom, 1 bath apartment with a private rooftop terrace for $350 a month. All utilities except internet are no more than $20/mo combined. I work from home so I pay $61 for 50/50 mbps fiber optic internet.

Where in Ecuador?

[Villanelle]

Currently looking for a rental in the DC/NoVA area.  Hoping to stay under $3300 for ~1500sqft, 3 beds (or 2 beds and den, semi-finished basement, or other third space), close to a metro stop, and with a very short commute.  It looks possible, but it might be challenging.  That's before utilities.

At that budget, can absolutely be done!

Thanks!  Good to hear!  We are looking to be in Old Town, or perhaps Del Rey (King or Braddock metro), so we want to be *really* close in. 

[CCCA]

Family of 4 living in HCOL bay area.  Our house is considered "big" for the area ~2000sf.
$2000 for mortgage and $1000 for prop tax each month.

[BookLoverL]

Paying board to my parents right now - I pay £30 per week and they cover all bills. I offered to pay an actually even share of the household bills rather than a reduced rate in the name of fairness, since that'd still be cheaper than renting, but my mum wouldn't let me.

I'm hoping to move out in the future, but only once I've a) saved up more of an initial deposit because I don't want a big mortgage and renting is more expensive in the long run, and b) I've identified some people I could live with as housemates to cut the cost (whether romantic partner(s) or just good platonic friends). I'm emotionally attached to my local village and nearby areas, in which house prices start from around £130,000 for an area I'd actually want to live in, last I checked. So if I had 1 friend, I would only need £65,000 to pay for my share, and if I had 2 friends, I'd only need £40,000-£45,000, etc. Then, aside from a mortgage, the ongoing cost of bills would be cheaper, because if I was sharing with friends we'd be splitting them, and also because I am more eco-friendly than my parents and would choose eco-friendly friends to live with, plus the house would be smaller and have less council tax, so the overall bill would be lower anyway.

[Slow2FIRE]

Currently looking for a rental in the DC/NoVA area.  Hoping to stay under $3300 for ~1500sqft, 3 beds (or 2 beds and den, semi-finished basement, or other third space), close to a metro stop, and with a very short commute.  It looks possible, but it might be challenging.  That's before utilities.

At that budget, can absolutely be done!

Thanks!  Good to hear!  We are looking to be in Old Town, or perhaps Del Rey (King or Braddock metro), so we want to be *really* close in.

Love that area.  So easy to bike into DC from Old Town.

[clarkfan1979]

@clarkfan1979, you're in Hawaii for a net cost of $700/mo plus cost of capital? Depending on capital invested, that sounds pretty amazing!

Purchase price was $603K. With closing costs and repairs, we are all-in at 650K. House is currently worth 750K to 800K. Median price for our zip code is 815K.

With 20% down, we had to come up with 127K at closing and another 40K for repairs. It's not cheap, but it's doable.

[Villanelle]

Currently looking for a rental in the DC/NoVA area.  Hoping to stay under $3300 for ~1500sqft, 3 beds (or 2 beds and den, semi-finished basement, or other third space), close to a metro stop, and with a very short commute.  It looks possible, but it might be challenging.  That's before utilities.

At that budget, can absolutely be done!

Bike to the Pentagon is part of the plan! 

Thanks!  Good to hear!  We are looking to be in Old Town, or perhaps Del Rey (King or Braddock metro), so we want to be *really* close in.

Love that area.  So easy to bike into DC from Old Town.

[englishteacheralex]

Honolulu, HI here.

3/2 condo with 2 parking spots. Mortgage $1600/month (includes escrow--insurance and property taxes). HOA $650/month. Electricity ~$120/month. So $2370/month total.

Bought in 2015.

[Linea_Norway]

Paying board to my parents right now - I pay £30 per week and they cover all bills. I offered to pay an actually even share of the household bills rather than a reduced rate in the name of fairness, since that'd still be cheaper than renting, but my mum wouldn't let me.

I'm hoping to move out in the future, but only once I've a) saved up more of an initial deposit because I don't want a big mortgage and renting is more expensive in the long run, and b) I've identified some people I could live with as housemates to cut the cost (whether romantic partner(s) or just good platonic friends). I'm emotionally attached to my local village and nearby areas, in which house prices start from around £130,000 for an area I'd actually want to live in, last I checked. So if I had 1 friend, I would only need £65,000 to pay for my share, and if I had 2 friends, I'd only need £40,000-£45,000, etc. Then, aside from a mortgage, the ongoing cost of bills would be cheaper, because if I was sharing with friends we'd be splitting them, and also because I am more eco-friendly than my parents and would choose eco-friendly friends to live with, plus the house would be smaller and have less council tax, so the overall bill would be lower anyway.

Do I understand correctly that you want to buy a house together with a friend, each paying half the price? I think you should consider the consequences in case the friend wants to move out. Then you will have to buy him/her out. It would be much simpler if you bought the house alone and rented out half the house to a friend. If the friend moves out, you just find another roommate.

[jlcnuke]

2,200 sq ft, 3/2 on 1/2 acre-
PI - ~$850/month
TI- ~ $200/month
Utilities/maintenance/etc - ~$450/month

[londonbanker]

Greater London area. So fairly HCOL. 4/3  house with reasonable garden.
Monthlys as follow-
£3,400 mortgage
£225 taxes
£150 utilities
£50 internet and insurance
£100 general maintenance
Plan is to repay the mortgage faster and drop the monthly payment below £2k within the next 2 years

[BookLoverL]

Paying board to my parents right now - I pay £30 per week and they cover all bills. I offered to pay an actually even share of the household bills rather than a reduced rate in the name of fairness, since that'd still be cheaper than renting, but my mum wouldn't let me.

I'm hoping to move out in the future, but only once I've a) saved up more of an initial deposit because I don't want a big mortgage and renting is more expensive in the long run, and b) I've identified some people I could live with as housemates to cut the cost (whether romantic partner(s) or just good platonic friends). I'm emotionally attached to my local village and nearby areas, in which house prices start from around £130,000 for an area I'd actually want to live in, last I checked. So if I had 1 friend, I would only need £65,000 to pay for my share, and if I had 2 friends, I'd only need £40,000-£45,000, etc. Then, aside from a mortgage, the ongoing cost of bills would be cheaper, because if I was sharing with friends we'd be splitting them, and also because I am more eco-friendly than my parents and would choose eco-friendly friends to live with, plus the house would be smaller and have less council tax, so the overall bill would be lower anyway.

Do I understand correctly that you want to buy a house together with a friend, each paying half the price? I think you should consider the consequences in case the friend wants to move out. Then you will have to buy him/her out. It would be much simpler if you bought the house alone and rented out half the house to a friend. If the friend moves out, you just find another roommate.

It's more of a vague idea at the moment than anything resembling a concrete plan, but you're right that this would be a concern. I just need to save up a higher deposit first before I can do the plan where I own the house myself, and I have low income at the moment. I need to think about it more, anyway...

[skip207]

Water / Electric / Gas £130
Council Tax £220
Insurance £30
Phone / Internet £22

So, around £400 per month.  UK, LCOL area.
No mortgage.